A Little To Late
by Carry On Wayward Archer
Summary: Wally and Dick had always been friends. Always. Eventually it evolved into something more; something better. And Dick could only hope that Wally had come to realize it to. Birdflash. As-of-now Oneshot. Read and Review!


**Ok. I am sooooo sorry for how long it took to get this out. I honestly have no excuse. I will be updating a lot more now. I swear. BUT HERE! TAKE A BIRDFLASH! *hands you story***

**BIG thanks to my beta sagestormashes for working your magic again. Love you!**

* * *

"Stop!-umph- CHEATING!" Wally yelled indignantly, jabbing his elbow against Dick's. The only response from the raven haired teen was his signature laugh, coupled with another round house kick to his avatar, and then a fatality.

"Not feeling the aster yet?" Robin leered.

"No way man, you cheated!"

"Wally, believe me when I say it wouldn't have been worth the time it would take to hack the game."

"That's cruel man, that's cruel." Wally said, pouting.

Dick _tried_ to keep a straight face, but he couldn't stop his lips from twitching upwards- which was something Wally did not miss. His eyes narrowed as a plan formed in his head.

Robin couldn't help but start to feel uneasy. He could predict most people's moves, but Wally was Wally- it was hard to find a bigger wild card.

He did not disappoint. "Have it your way." He said, before pouncing on the younger teen. His long nimble fingers started dancing all over Dick's sides, reducing him to a bumbling mass of hysterics.

Dick stumbled back over the blankets on his bed, but he kept falling over wires and food wrappers and couldn't escape the speedster.

Once he tripped over on one of Wally's action figures, staying upright was no longer an option. With flailing arms, Robin crashed onto the bed- closely followed by the unrelenting speedster, whose assault was not stopping for a second.

"Who's…cheating…now?" Robin wheezed out, between fending off the impossibly fast fingers and fighting the urge to laugh and/or cry.

"Consider it…payback." Wally said, grinning. He was starting to breath heavy; heated breath sporadically blowing over Robin's flushed face, making his bangs flutter in his eyes. Robin may have been out of commission, but he still had his reflexes, and Wally was having a hard time avoiding his vicious kicks and fists.

Robin, however, was trained to recover quickly; and so after lying limp like a useless sock for several minutes, he sat up abruptly and in a swift move he flipped them over and had Wally's hands and feet trapped underneath him.

Robin smiled down triumphantly down at the surprised speedster, and wriggled a bit until he was sure Wally couldn't escape.

Wally wriggled around on the bed until he finally gave up, defeated. One couldn't contain Wally West for very long, however, and too soon his eyes lit up again. Robin had no time to react except to tighten his hold on Wally incase he tried to make a run for it. He didn't move though, at least not perceptibly. No, Wally started _vibrating_.

"Umph!" Robin gasped, as vibrations jolted through his whole body. His hold on Wally slackened, and in half a second Wally was out from under him and halfway across the room, lazily opening another back of Red Vines and chewing on several obnoxiously.

"Can't contain the Wall-Man Robbie. It's ok though, it's not your fault that I'm as amazing as I am."

"You cheated! So many times! _Not_ asterous man!"

"Sorry", Wally said, zooming up to Robin, head only inches away from the ebony-haired teen. "You can't just turn off this much awesome."

Robin leaned in a bit more, shortening the already non-existent gap between them. "The sheer size of your ego will never cease to amaze me."

Both teens were flushed and breathing heavily. Their hair was equally disheveled, and Robin's glasses were off in some corner of the room, leaving his eyes exposed and radiant. Wally couldn't help but note how _pretty_ his best friend's eyes were. The boy truly had been blessed with good looks. _Looks that might even rival mine_, Wally mused.

Knowing how uncomfortable it made him when he did it, Wally devilishly decided to voice his thought. "Your eyes are so _pretty_."

Dick flushed red, and backed up really fast, looking around wildly for his glasses- which he didn't realize had been gone. Yes, Wally knew his identity, but wearing his glasses was second nature to him. Whether it was his mask or the glasses, he was never without them; and he felt slightly… naked without them. When he couldn't find them anywhere, he just bowed his head and mumbled. "Weirdo. Stop staring at them!" _Was it natural that his heart was speeding up?"_

"Nope" Wally said, as defiant as always. He disappeared for a second before reappearing in front of him, swinging his glasses in one hand. "I never get to see them when we're with the others, and now we're alone. I deserve to see them, Dick."

_Again with the heart rate; it felt like it was going to jump straight out of his chest. It was probably just because it was weird hearing his name come from someone else directly in front of him-right? Not because of the way it rolled of off his tongue or- ok, done thinking._

Dick looked down, trying to hide his blush or the fact that he'd just been staring up at Wally.

"Oh no you don't." Wally said. "You can't hide them form me."

Before he even knew how to react, Wally's strong hands were holding his chin, pulling his head up to look at him. Flushed, Dick darted his eyes up, only to be confronted with Wally's emeralds. He looked like he was staring into his soul with his eyes. _His beautiful green eyes. His-_

A knock came from the door, and immediately Robin lurched for his glasses and put a respectable distance between himself and Wally. Slightly flustered, Robin walked over to the door, and found Alfred waiting for him.

"Sorry to disturb you, Master Richard, But Mr. Wayne has guests downstairs, and they are starting to complain about the noises coming from the upper floors. I'd like to request you refrain from anymore of your- ah- vigorous activities for the rest of the night."

"Oh! Ya, sorry Alfred, I'm sure Wally" – Dick took a moment to pointedly glare over his shoulder at the teen before looking back at Alfred. "will agree with me when I say that it won't happen again. Besides, it's getting late. We'll probably be going to bed soon anyway."

"I think it went past 'getting late' at 3 am, but to each his own. Remember Richard, Bruce is expecting you to patrol tomorrow." Alfred said, before exiting the room.

"Nice going, _Kid_." Dick muttered, jabbing Wally in the side.

Wally had a witty retort on the tip of his tongue, but held it back only with the knowledge that Alfred was around. The man might've seemed nice and easy going when he first met him, but one bloody nose on his precious white sheets later, (don't ask) and Wally found an all new meaning to the term, 'run like a bat outta hell.' Instead, he fixed Dick with a glare and rubbed his abused side.

Dick just laughed at Wally's attempt at a glare. Compared to his and Batman's, Wally's glare just looked like he had a weird eye problem. Wally huffed at Dick's obvious amusement and turned around and stalked over to the bed. He fell onto the bed face first, not bothering to get under the sheets or anything.

"Well screw you. I'm going to bed."

Shaking his head lightly, Dick went over to the other side of the bed and leaped on, bouncing several times due to the sheer force of the impact. Wally refused to acknowledge his existence and just grumbled deep within his chest and turned his head in the other direction.

Dick, who was having _way _too much fun torturing Wally, pulled up sharply on the sheets- which successfully flipped Wally of the bed and into a very unceremonious heap on the ground. The noise produced from the speedster made Robin want to clutch his sides and rock with bouts of laughter; but he had another idea. Instead of reacting to Wally at all, he just calmly pulled the blankets up and lay down on his side. Even with his eyes closed he could just see the fuming speedster stand up and with as much dignity as he could put together from his destroyed ego and climbed into the bed and slipped under the covers.

After several seconds Dick relaxed his shoulders, seeing no counter-attack being performed. Then, he felt a shift of air and Wally was pressed up against his side, mouth an inch from his ear. He could feel his breath ever so slightly brush his ear, and could feel the warm tuffs of breath wash over his ear.

"You think this is over, don't you. Well, just remember this, _Grayson_. The Wall-man never forgets when he's wronged. _Ever_."

Dick couldn't help but shiver once Wally's presence faded and returned to his side. He could feel his heart beating half-a-mile an hour. Sleep was _not_ gonna come by him easy.

* * *

Heat. It was _really_ hot. Groggily, Robin forced a cemented eye open and looked blurrily around him. His right eye wasn't responding and was plastered shut. He lifted his head to survey his surroundings. First of all, since when was his pillow so hard and… _warm_? Sitting up a bit further, Robin was faced with the reality that he was flush up against the speedster. Wally's arm was stretched across the width of the bed, and Robin couldn't see the red marks on his bicep as to where his cheek had been resting.

Robin slid back to his side and glanced worriedly over at the speedster who thankfully was still out cold. Robin took little comfort in that though and worked on trying to calm himself down. His heart was beating a million miles an hour and was attempting to jump straight out of his chest. He was pretty sure the people across the _street_ could hear its' obnoxious beating.

Robing started panicking. _Shit. Wally could've woken up at any time to see his best friends practically __**spooning**__ him! But then… doesn't that mean I would've been moved? There's no way Wally would have let us stay the way we were…right?_

_Then again, that hardly means anything. He could've just been too tired to move me. Or it could just be Wally being Wally. He's never exactly had a problem with physical contact before. S'not like he has boundaries when it comes to this type of thing… That's probably it. __**IF **__he woke up, which he most certainly __**didn't**__- he probably thought nothing of it, or was at least was too tired to give a fuck. Seriously, that's the only possibility. I mean, it definitely was __**not**__ because he….liked it. No. Rob, don't even go there. You'll just set yourself up for disappointment. Just let it go. He didn't wake up, he didn't see this. Just lay down on __**your**__ side of the bed and pretend like nothing happened. Just be grateful he didn't wake up first._

With those reassuring thoughts in his head, he delicately lifted Wally's outstretched arm and draped it over his own stomach. Once his side was clear of any overhanging parts of the speedster, he slipped back under the covers and fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

When Robin woke up for good, he breathed a sigh of relief to see that he had stayed on his own side. He moved to slide off the bed, still half asleep. He yawned, as he moved. God. He really needed to brush his teeth. He could still taste the sour aftertaste of the chips from last night and was pretty sure they had already started the fermenting process. With a jolt he was pulled back away from the edge of the bed, a small noise of surprise escaping him. With horror, he looked down to see that it was Wally's arm that had pulled him back. Wally had wrapped himself around Dick, his long arm around Dick's waist, hand fisting Dick's shirt.

When he looked over at Wally, he almost split his side laughing at the speedster. He has essentially turned Dick into a giant teddy bear and there was a generous amount of drool across his pillow and on his cheek. Grimacing, Robin hoped to god his back had escaped the flood. When he remembered that his head had been in the place of the pillow only hours before, he figured the situation could have been much worse.

Tasting the tell-tale flavor of death in his mouth- Robin moved out from under Wally's arm and jogged of to the bathroom in higher spirits then he would like to admit.

* * *

When Robin finished brushing his teeth and changed into a new pair of jeans, Robin started in on his hair. Bruce was hosting another charity event, and this one he was forced to attend.

Sighing, Dick grabbed one of his many bottles of hair gel and squeezed a glob of the stuff into his hand. It was cool to the touch, and when he ran it through his hair he couldn't keep from shivering when it touched his speedster-heated scalp. In seconds Robin was frustrated beyond belief. Even with the overwhelming amounts he had put in his hair, in refused to stay down and back. The second he thought he got it, his bang would flip over in front of his eyes _mocking him_.

Frustrated, Dick grabbed the bottle and squeezed another heaping amount into his hands and forced his hair into submission. When he finally got the results he wanted, he grabbed his glasses and headed to the door when he heard a voice behind him.

"Dude, why do you even use that shit?"

Swiveling, Robin faced the lounging speedster who was leaning against the wall. "What?"

"That _gel_. You look…..different with it; not _nearly_ as devious or awesome. Not to mention you look way better without it."

On the inside, Robin's heart had once again kicked it into overdrive, and he felt like there was some sort-of wild teenage party going on inside, grouped with fireworks going off in rapid succession inside his brain. Not fully understanding it himself, he tried to keep his expression blank when he said, "Well, different is sort-of the point Walls. What kind of disguise would it be if the only difference between Dick Grayson and Robin was a different outfit and a mask instead of shades?"

After a moment of what looked like deep thought (Wally must've spaced out and started thinking of breakfast or something, because let's get real. Wally and deep thought don't exactly belong in the same universe, let alone sentence) Wally responded with a, "Point taken."

Smirking, Robin faced the speedster and put on his shades. "Now as much as Rob and KF hang out, I doubt Dick Grayson would be friends with a random kid from Central City. So as the charity event is about to start-"

"Yah yah I know, time for me to head out." Wally finished.

Well, unless you want _Batman_ coming up to escort you on your way..." He said, grinning.

The brief flash of terror in his eyes was quickly followed by a blur that was quickly replaced by a fully dressed, ready-to-go speedster with bag in hand.

"Nope- I think I can escort myself out, thanks. Since when do charity events start this early, anyways?"

"Since Bruce started scheduling them earlier after the last time you stayed over all day-and ate over half the food that was meant for the _guests_.

Wally pouted and responded defensively. "Hey! No one _told_ me the food was off limits! Next time put a sign out or something!"

"Well, Bruce decided that there wouldn't _be_ a next time."

"That hurts dude."

Wally went over to the door and opened it. Stepping out, he swiveled around to say, "But no food to show me off with?"

Robin inwardly smiled. He had been expecting Wally to say something about food. Now that he thought about it, he was impressed _the bottomless pit_ had managed to steer clear of the topic for so long.

"Well now that you brought it up, I remember asking a certain Alfred to make a double batch of pancakes, if I'm not mistaken."

The smile that lit up his whole face was hysterical, and before he could even register the movement, Wally's strong arms were wrapped around his torso, pulling him into a celebratory hug. So much zeal and passion was put into it that Robin almost started crying with laughter. It didn't help that Wally was whispering feverishly into his ear. "Ohmygosh man, you're the best. Like, have I ever told you how awesome you are? 'Cas you're awesome. You are so-"

"Stop it, stop it!" Robin wheezed out between fits of laughter and desperate gasps for air. "I can't take this anymore. It's too much."

Wally grinned and pulled away. "I owe you one!" he said, before zipping down the stairs to claim his prize.

"By Walls! See you Friday!"

"You know it dude!" He heard Wally reply. Right before the front door closed, Dick could hear the sound of Wally celebrating. Nothing really could beat Alfred's cooking.

* * *

Once the door to the manor closed, Dick spun around and shut his own door. He couldn't help the grin that stretched his face or the slight flush of his cheeks.

Robin went over to his bed and fell onto it face first, careful to avoid the slowly drying puddle of doom. He didn't know quite what to do with himself. He felt like such a schoolgirl; what with the blushing and the heart rate and the constant worrying.

But that's just what Wally reduced him to. Wally was just so… _Wally_. You couldn't get him off your mind even if you wanted to. It was just the little things he did, the finesse, or lack thereof, of his movements that was just so intriguing.

He joked about Wally's habits a lot, but he didn't really know what he would do if Wally ever changed. _Ever._

But Wally wasn't one to change. He was Robin's one universal constant. Wally would always be the freckly-faced, joke-telling, speed-loving hero that Robin fell in love with.

_ 'Wait what?'_ Robin sat up, startled. _'Did I just say in love with?' No- no I didn't. Wally's my friend! Best friend. That just- slipped out. Confusion- or something. Slip of the tongue. Lots of teens my age go through that type of thing- thinking they're in love with their best friends. It's normal!... Right? Besides, even if it was…. Real, Wally would never love me back. He's so straight. Then again… maybe not?'_

_ 'Like what was last night? There's a fine line between bros and…other, and that line was crossed as soon as we got on the bed-right? What if Wally was just acting straight…'_

Dick went back and forth between the ideas of Wally's sexuality- as well as between his own. It was just so _frustrating_. Normally he could deduce anything in the matter of minutes, but right then- _nada._ There were just too many variables, just to many 'what-ifs'. Wally was such a character- things he did just couldn't be explained, they just _were_. What some people called personal space, Wally would deem otherwise. But then, personal space wasn't really a problem for the speedster in question with the others- so, that had to mean something… right?

Right before Dick descended into another spiral of unanswerable questions, Alfred burst into his room.

"Richard John Grayson! Why are you not down yet? Master Bruce was expecting you 30 minutes ago! Why are you rolling around on that soiled bed? If you are not down within five minutes, Master Bruce and I are going to have to cancel any further _playdates _between you and any other friend of yours on nights of events, understood? And for goodness sake, do something with your hair."

Groaning, Robin sat up on the bed, and realized with growing horror that his face had been right in the middle of _the spot_. "They're not _playdates,_ Alfred! It's called a hangout!" He shouted, before running into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Chuckling, Alfred exiting the room- but not before making note of the fact that he had to change Master Richard's sheets as soon as he could.

* * *

Robin crashed to the floor, completely drained. It had been a full day. He had to smile and nod and have useless conversations with bubble-headed rich people for hours, as well as dance with half of the girls in Gotham. Then of course he had to patrol. Originally, he had been thankful for a reason to escape the god-awful party, but after an hour of nothing, he almost (_almost)_ wished he could go back. At least then he'd have someone to talk to.

It didn't help matters when it had started to rain, or when the sewers decided it would be a perfect time to back up, or when he tripped into a very large, very muddy, very putrid puddle of what could only loosely be considered water.

When patrol was finally over, Robin dragged himself back to his house. Dirty and exhausted, he laid down on the floor. His mind was in a completely detached state, but he knew if he laid down on the newly-washed blankets before his shower, he would be gutted and skinned alive by Alfred before he could even blink. Dick couldn't summon the energy to get up and go to the shower however, so he elected to stay on the floor. Besides, if he went to the shower, chances were he would _probably drown._

Robin just lay there on the floor staring at the ceiling. He was sore, and the cold rain had sucked the life out of him. He was seriously weighing the options of just sleeping on the floor. It _was_ a very comfortable floor….

Of course, that was when his phone decided it was a perfectly good time to ring.

Groaning out a noise that he wasn't even sure was considered human, Robin rolled over and grasped the bed sheets and used them to heave his dead body off the ground enough to reach the phone. When he got it, he crashed back down onto the floor.

Dick flipped his phone- and immediately dropped it with a hiss. Blinding light assulted his eyes, and even with his hand over his face, the light had already managed to bleach the back of his brain.

Robin squinted and lifted the phone back up to his eyes. His sluggish brain wasn't processing what was om the screen. _Who was the message__** from**__?_

Robin opened the message and stuggeled to distinguish the individual words. They were all floating around on the screen and blurring in and out of focus. Slowly, the letters stopped revolving and made cohererent sentence.

_**Call me- KF**_

It felt like Dick had been injected with life. _Anything_ could have happened to Wally. Did he break his leg? Did he get in a big fight with his parents again? Did he find out who the Light's partner was? All these thoughts flashed through his mind as his hands quickly pressed speed-dial. He was listening to Wally's voice before he could even process that he had called.

"Rob! Thank god! I have something super important to tell you! Can you meet me outside?"

"Sure. Wait. You're at my _house_?"

"Well ya- I had sort of a brilliant revelation today and-well; just come out man!"

"Fine, I'll be out in a minute."

"Thanks Rob. See you in a bit!"

Robin heard the click on the other end of the line, and willed his body up into a standing position. His back cracked in all the wrong places. Wincing, Robin went out the window, not bothering to change out of his uniform.

He met Wally right outside of the gates. When Wally turned around, he could see his pupils dilate.

"Oh, you just got back from patrol? Sorry man. If I'd known I would've told you to shower first-"

"It's fine Walls. What's up?"

"_Well_, when I got back to my place, I started thinking, and-"

"Thinking? How? It that even possible for you man?" Dick said, feigning utter shock.

"Yaya, hardy-har har. Very funny. Anyway, I was thinking about what Kent Nelson said. You know, the whole 'find your own little spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothing?' deal?"

Not quite sure where Wally was headed going with this, Robin hesitantly nodded his head.

"Well, I feel kinda stupid to only realize this now. I mean- I should've known right away who he was talking about, you now? But hey, I guess I can be a bit dense every now and then."

Robin could practically feel his eyes bugging out of his head. Was he really going to say what he thought he was? Still, Robin opted to play it safe, and just hedge for information. "Realized _what_, Wally."

"Realized that it was obvious! I mean, they've been standing in front of me the whole time. _'Never let you get away with nothing'_, that's what he said to me. Well damn right won't let me get away with nothing! I mean, they always force me to do my best, and like hell they'll stand for my bullshit."

_Damn right I won't stand for any of your bullshit, Wally._

"There's not a thing that I can say that I'm not forced to defend. I mean, it used to bother the hell outa me, but then I thought, 'Damn, that just makes me so much _better_!" I know who I am as a _person_."

_Glad you finally see why my constant jibes are helpful ._

"You know that I'm now the head of my debate team? Don't look at me like that Rob- I had to ok! I needed the extra-curricular credit…"

Robin didn't know if he could believe his ears. Was it finally getting through his skull that Robin liked him? Was Wally finally realizing that he liked him back?

Wally's tempo had slowly increased throughout his speech, and he was getting to the point where he was off on a tangent, speaking a million miles per hour. Robin, feeling happier than he had in a long time, decided to take Wally out of his misery. With a small smile on his lips, he looked up and put a hand on Wally's bicep, signaling him to stop talking. "What did you come to say, Walls?" He said softly.

"I did it! I asked her out!"

_Her._

_Did hearts normally rip in two?_

"What?" Robin said, in barely a whisper.

"I asked Artemis out! And by some miracle, she said _yes_! Artemis said yes!"

_Shattering._

"That's amazing Walls"

_Drowning._

* * *

**So did you like it? Let me know! As of now I'm leaving this as a one-shot, but if you guys like it enough then I'll add a second chapter. Sound good? Let me know what you think! Reviews make me happy!_  
_**

**xxoo **

**~ b07-artemis**


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